(Dave Bedard photo)

Major grocers pledge cage-free eggs by 2025

Reading Time: 3 minutes The grocery arm of the body for Canadian retailers has rolled out a 10-year plan to source the eggs its members sell from layer hens raised in “cage-free environments.” The grocer members of the Retail Council of Canada (RCC), which include Loblaw, Sobeys/Safeway, Metro and Wal-Mart Canada, said Friday they are “voluntarily committing to the […] Read more

Herd of Holstein Friesian cows

What will the TPP mean for your farm?

AME Management: Overall, Canadian farmers get increased market access from TPP, plus better dispute settlement

Reading Time: 3 minutes The October 2015 Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is a substantial trade treaty for its 12 members, and like other trade treaties, it will introduce concessions on market access, such as tariff reductions and increased import quotas, as discussed below. But there is also considerable focus on food safety regulations as well as on biotechnology […] Read more


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Cuban export opportunities eyed for U.S. farmers

Reading Time: 2 minutes Lima | Reuters –– U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said Tuesday that farm officials want to lay the groundwork so U.S. agricultural exporters can seize new opportunities in Cuba if the trade embargo on the country is lifted. The normalization of trade relations would allow U.S. farmers to use lower transportation costs to edge […] Read more

A+W, which sources eggs from this production facility, said it plans to source its eggs from hens in open-barn housing and raised without use of antibiotics. (CNW Group/A+W Restaurants)

A+W ups ante on layer hen housing

Reading Time: 3 minutes Having already pledged to source eggs from hens in enriched housing and raised without use of antibiotics, burger chain A+W now plans to get all its eggs from hens in open housing. The Vancouver-based income fund said Wednesday that despite having “no open-barn housing options available” today that meet its antibiotic-free requirement, it plans to […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. COOL rules formally off beef, pork

Reading Time: 2 minutes The U.S. Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has formally patched a long-sore spot in cross-border trade relations by pulling its country-of-origin labelling (COOL) regulations off beef and pork. The AMS, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), published its amendments Wednesday in the U.S. Federal Register. The changes, which took effect upon publication, mean […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Maple Leaf profit beats as margins improve

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Canadian pork processor Maple Leaf Foods posted a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as margins in its prepared meats business improved. Adjusted operating profit in the meat products group, which includes brands such as Schneiders and the company’s namesake Maple Leaf brand, was $54.6 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $19.1 million. The Mississauga-based […] Read more


(Gavilon.com)

Gavilon names former ADM exec as CEO in management reshuffle

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Gavilon LLC has hired a former executive from rival Archer Daniels Midland to take the helm following a big reshuffle at Gavilon, a major U.S. grain merchant, in the latest sign that the commodities rout is upending global merchants. In a statement, the company, owned by Japanese trading house Marubeni, named Lewis Batchelder […] Read more

(Country Guide file photo)

Input costs to chip away at farmers’ shrinking income

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — An anticipated downturn in farm income and higher input costs mean Canadian producers will be in a tough financial position this year, the head of the National Farmers Union (NFU) predicts. Farmers’ net cash income is expected to move lower in 2016, declining nine per cent to $13.6 billion in 2016, according […] Read more


The Manitoba Wildlife Federation points to this bullet hole in a rural northwestern Manitoba home as an example of the risks to the public from unchecked night hunting. (MWF.mb.ca/Nightwatch)

Manitoba hunters, ranchers seek rural night-hunting ban

Reading Time: 2 minutes Manitoba’s hunter and rancher groups are calling on the province to tighten its enforcement against night hunting and ban the activity among all hunters in the province’s populated rural areas. The call Tuesday from the Manitoba Wildlife Federation follows a Sept. 10 near-miss in which a couple near Winnipegosis, about 60 km north of Dauphin, […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Burger King, Tim’s owner says 2016 off to ‘great start’

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Restaurant Brands International said it was off to a “great start” this year, after new product launches at its Burger King and Tim Hortons chains in 2015 helped boost sales in a highly competitive market. Shares of the Ontario-based company, which reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, rose as much as nine […] Read more